Whiteside, Ellington out; Dragic closer to returning
PHOENIX — The Miami Heat’s flight for their sixgame western swing took off light on vital cargo Thursday, with both Hassan Whiteside and Wayne Ellington remaining behind due to personal reasons.
The team did not delineate the reason for Ellington’s absence, but said Whiteside remained behind as he awaits the birth of his first child.
Guard Dion Waiters, who is recovering from January ankle surgery, also remained behind, yet to travel with the team this season.
There was good news, however.
Guard Goran Dragic, who has missed the past eight games because of a swollen right knee that was drained two weeks ago, did take flight for the trip that opens Friday against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena and practiced for the second consecutive day Thursday.
“He’s doing a lot better. He’s making progress,” coach Erik Spoelstra said after the Heat worked Thursday evening on the Suns’ practice court. “We’re really excited about his last week of work.”
The Heat rarely put out such a spin unless a player is poised to return. By contrast, there was no comment from Spoelstra on Waiters not traveling.
The Heat have not recalled either of their players on two-way contracts, undrafted forwards Yante Maten and Duncan Robinson, who are with the G League Sioux Falls Skyforce.
The current available roster, with Dragic apparently poised for a return, also includes Bam Adebayo and Kelly Olynyk at center; James Johnson, Justise Winslow, Rodney McGruder, Udonis Haslem and Derrick Jones Jr. at forward; and Josh Richardson, Tyler Johnson and Dwyane Wade at guard.
Whiteside and Ellington are expected to join the team on the trip, which continues with games in Los Angeles at Staples Center on Saturday night against the Clippers and then Monday against LeBron James and the Lakers, before concluding with games against the Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans.
It appears likely that Whiteside and Ellington will be available for at least half of the trip.
It is the second absence of the season for Whiteside, who missed the Nov. 5 road victory over the Detroit Pistons with a sore right knee. Spoelstra started Adebayo that night, the second-year center’s lone start to this point.
It also is the second absence for Ellington, who missed the season’s first seven games after sustaining an ankle injury during training camp. The Heat went 3-4 during that stretch.
Tyler Johnson and Jones, who had been sidelined, both were back in uniform for Tuesday’s loss to the Orlando Magic at the end of a four-game homestand and participated in Thursday’s practice.
Johnson, who had missed the previous six games with a strained right hamstring, played 13 minutes in the loss, with four points on 2-of-3 shooting. Jones, who had missed two games with a hamstring strain, did not play against Orlando.
The Suns also are expected to be shorthanded Friday, with Devin Booker (hamstring) and T.J. Warren (ankle) held out of Thursday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers, not expected to return to the court until this weekend.
Work remains: With the Heat having operated shorthanded all season, including Wade stepping away for seven games for paternity leave, Wade still believes there can be at least some easy fixes.
“I’m sure some of it is, definitely,” he said. “Definitely some of it is, but some of it is, you’ve heard it before, a lot of teams don’t have enough time at this time of the year, there’s so many games that you don’t have time to drill it. Sometimes you’ve got to drill stuff, you’ve got to put people in those positions.
“A lot of times you’ve got to do it on the fly, especially when you’ve got guys coming off injuries, not have a lot of time to get back into the swing of things. It’s the combination of it all.”
The Heat have scheduled practice time during each of the days off during their 10-day trip.
“The biggest thing in this league is you’ve got to know what’s successful for you, you’ve got to know what works for you,” Wade said. “I think we’ve seen it in the wins, the good wins that we’ve had. And I think we’ve seen the opposite in the losses that we’ve had.
“So how can we get to that just more consistently? How can we play that game that we need to to give ourselves a chance to win more nights than not?”